Tim Horton’s chain expanding to its furthest northern outpost

By Bill Mann

Heading through the Northwest Passaage next summer? Be sure to swing by Tim Horton’s.

Talk about planting the national flag in the Arctic: The Canadian donut-and-more emporium/chain has just announced plans to open an outlet in December in Nunavut’s frigid capital — with a limited menu. (They may not have croissants, wraps or bagels. Mostly donuts and coffee — what else do you need in that weather?).

In expanding north of the 60th parallel to Iqaluit, capital of the relatively new (and huge) Nunavut Territory, the chain is planting the Canadian and fast-food flags on Baffin Island, something that would have seemed unimaginable not long ago.

The iconic Canadian fast-food chain, co-founded by and named after a former Toronto Maple Leafs’ star, claims 75 percent of Canada’s coffee-and-baked-goods business. It also has outlets in the south (the U.S.).

Partly due to increased commerce in Canada’s far north and rising temperatures there, the population of Nunavut has more than doubled in recent years to over 7,000 residents, according to Maclean’s Magazine. The magazine says that most menu items in three kiosks planned in the northernmost Tim Horton’s outlets will sell for 50 cents more than in Ottawa or Toronto. Shipping costs and all that.

There are 3,000 Tim Horton’s across Canada, including locations in the capitals of the other two Canadian Territories, Northwest Territory and Yukon. Frigid Iqaluit was founded in 1942 as a U.S. Army Air Corps base. Until 1987, the town was known as Frobisher Bay.

No more 2,000-mile takeout orders?

The Toronto Sun reports that the arrival of the kiosks in Iqaluit is expected to help bring about an end to the long-held tradition among northerners of bringing back favourite fast foods into the territories when flying in from Montreal, Ottawa and other places in southern Canada colonized by Tim Horton’s.

The Sun adds that Tim Horton’s counters will be set up at a general store and two convenience stores in the northern city. They’ll serve a basic menu that will focus on the chain’s hot drinks and baked goods.

A special sign has been made for the kiosks for the local First Nations people who dominate the population of Nunavut. It features the company’s slogan — “Always Fresh” — in Inuktitut.

Translated it reads, “It seems like the coffee was just made.”

CANADA NOTES: There were more than a few Canadians in the Jon Stewart-Stephen Colbert rally this weekend in Washington D.C. — asking for reasonableness, of course.

The Toronto Star reports that one was Hashem Handy, 21, a political science student at Ottawa’s Carleton University, who carried a Canadian flag and a sign that read